Irene Cabrera

Irene Cabrera Roda is an international humanitarian and development professional with more than twenty years of experience leading programmes, operations and country strategies across Latin America, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. Her career combines senior leadership in international humanitarian organisations with extensive experience in institutional cooperation, humanitarian response and development programming.

Irene currently serves as Multi-Country Projects Lead for the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), based in Bangkok, overseeing multi-country programmes and regional platforms across Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Her responsibilities include strategic coherence, programme quality and accountability, oversight of the regional portfolio of the Mixed Migration Centre (MMC), and support to fundraising, risk management and the development of new regional initiatives.

Previously, Irene was Country Director for DRC in Colombia, where she led a programme portfolio of approximately EUR 21 million and up to 500 staff across six offices. She oversaw a multi-sector portfolio spanning Protection, WASH, Anticipatory Action, Cash, Livelihoods, Humanitarian Mine Action and Peacebuilding, including programmes in conflict-affected and hard-to-reach areas.

Earlier in her career, Irene held senior positions with Action Against Hunger in Syria, Cambodia and the Philippines, and served as Country Representative for the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) in Lebanon and Albania, after previously working on governance and human rights programmes in Colombia.

Alongside her institutional roles, Irene has worked as an independent evaluator and technical adviser on assignments in the Bahamas, Greece, Mali, Colombia, Haiti, Mozambique and Palestine, as well as contributing to the development of the Municipality of Valencia’s International Cooperation Policy.

Her experience spans strategic leadership, programme and operational management, humanitarian coordination, donor relations, risk management, evaluation and institutional representation. Irene holds a Degree in Law from the University of Valencia, a Master’s Degree in International and Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, and postgraduate studies in International Cooperation and Local and Rural Development.